The paintings of Ed Ahlstrom sort into recurring themes that comprise three series. These are, Still Life with Landscape, Hanging Objects, and Art About Art. In all these paintings Ed is interested in posing visual puns using levels of apparent reality. Plein Air Landscape painting has always held an interest for Ed having grown up in Illinois with its expanses of prairie and farmland. He makes landscapes both as complete paintings and as studies for use in larger studio paintings.